Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

Painted Lady

A delight to see a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans). A butterfly with a wingspan of 2 to 3 inches, that like many butterflies, lives only for 2 to 4 weeks as an adult. During their short life the butterfly consumes the nectar of plants that are 3 to 6 feet high, such as Asters, Cosmos, Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, Sunflowers, and of course, Pineapple Sage.

The Painted Lady can be found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Their long distance migration makes them the most widely distributed butterfly species. Those migrations are irruptive. Not necessarily depending upon weather or geography, but some think depending in part on such things as changing climate patterns and also perhaps triggered by population issues.

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Spiny Cholla

Looking through my photographs. Dreaming through memories of trips past. Trips to my favorite part of this country. The Southwest. This photo makes me think of many visits to my husband’s precious Grandmother and her home in Artesia, New Mexico, surrounded by a yard that was Southwestern landscape filled with native plants including many of this Spiny Cholla (Cylindropuntio spinosior). Yes, spiny but beautifully bloomed with purple-red flowers, spring through summer.

Arizona

Spiny Cholla (Cylindropuntia spinosior)

The desert Southwest, such a different environment from where my deep roots are. Different from the lush green of DC, Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania.

I have an acquaintance who went to the Southwest for a visit and was so disappointed. They returned and only had this to say, “It is SO BROWN out there!” That’s someone who doesn’t focus in on what nature has to share with us.

Sunset at Mt Lemon

These images are from a trip to Tucson, Arizona. So much to see. So much to take in. So much to learn.

Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea)

But that is nothing new. I learn new things everyday, even though I’m in my familiar surroundings at home, back East.

Canyon Tree Frog (Hyla arnicolor), Saguaro National Park

One last photo, and quite the surprise to me. A Desert Tree Frog (Hyla arnicolor) in the dry desert. I suppose there are animals that can adapt to most any environment. Those adaptable animals will have quite the job, adapting to what they will be facing in the years to come.

Color

So important to me – COLOR. And autumn really brings it to me. Now, in early autumn, a small tree, Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum), is bringing joy to my heart with its color.

In spring, a tree with blooms that attract so many pollinators that the tree itself seems to buzz with activity.

But in autumn its emerald leaves begin to lose their chlorophyll, exposing the crimsons, saffrons, and marmalades. Rich colors to brighten even the grayest of days.

And on sunny, crisp days, when the weather is totally perfect, those colors sing to me.

Fasciation

These two images are what a normal Goldenrod looks like, in two different stages of their growth.
This image is of a Goldenrod which has been transformed by FASCIATION. All these images were taken in my back yard and are the same species of Goldenrod.

Fasciation is something that is not really understood by scientists. But it creates cool things to happen with plants. It makes a plant’s growth go berserk in unpredictable ways, growing in a manner that would not normally happen.

It is thought that fasciation happens because of a hormonal imbalance in the plant. What causes that imbalance is uncertain. It could be a random mutation, an injury due to insect action or a disease or even a physical injury. It’s believed to be totally fluke occurrences that are not shared by other plants or even to other parts of the same plant.

Fasciation is bewildering and fascinating.

Migrating

Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) on their way to their winter homes. Coming through, two or three per day on their way south. Stopping for just a moment at Goldenrod, Obedient Plant, or in this case this morning at a Morning Glory.

And more migrating. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) also on their way south. Several are coming through every day. Usually one at a time. They are an independent sort and travel alone. Occasionally though as one sips, another will show up and give chase. Always the trouble makers. That pale throat can either indicate a female or a juvenile of either sex. But the white tips on their tails tell me that these are females.

Perfect Landing

Shorter days. Cooler temperatures. Leaves slowly losing their chlorophyll. Little by little my mountain is beginning to take on an autumnal demeanor. At a snail’s pace, summer is weakening its green grasp.

A crisp day encourages a maple leaf to fall. Crimson falling to its opposite on the color wheel. Emerald green perfectly surrounds and protects so long as winds are calm.

Pin Cushion Moss (Leocobryum glaucum).

A Mystery

Many of you might know that I love a mystery. Some native, something. A plant, an insect, something without a name. Figure out what it is. THIS was my mystery today. If I had not thumbed through a plethora of nature books since childhood, I would not have even known that this is a caterpillar. But that hint carried me to books with photographs of caterpillars. One of many in my library.

This is the only photograph I have of this critter. I took it in October 2013. And now I know what this is!

This is the larval stage, or caterpillar, of a Crowned Slug Moth Caterpillar (Isa texula). It’s a venomous caterpillar. Look but don’t touch. Caterpillars in this family, Limacodidae, rather than having peg-like legs, mid-body, as most caterpillars have, have suckers, which creates a floating appearance, slug-like, which gives them their common name. They enjoy eating leaves of oak trees but they have a taste for most any hardwood tree. As adults the moth does not eat, but focuses only on reproduction.